1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a scanner, and more particularly to a scanner with a scan-starting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with the advance and development in technology, the integration and application of multi-media have become a trend nowadays. Multi-media means data contents of various types, for instance, text, image, voice, etc. In order to show the data in the form of multi-media, nowadays several varieties of multi-media devices used to scan images or record voices have been developed. However, an image scanner is one of the most frequently used tools in image processing.
Please refer to FIG. 1, a side elevation according to a conventional platform scanner 120. In FIG. 1, the scanner 120 comprises a housing 100 on which a glass platform 102, where documents-to-be-scanned 101 are placed, is situated, wherein a carriage 104 and a lighting device 106 are situated inside the housing 100. The lighting device 106 is situated on the carriage 104 inside which a light sensing module 107 is installed. The light sensing module 107 can be a charge coupled device (CCD) or a contact image sensor (CIS) for instance. A dragging element 108, powered by a step motor (not shown here), is used to drag the carriage 104. Besides, a linking device 110 is used to make the carriage 104 and the dragging element 108 linked. When the scanner starts to work, the dragging element 108 drags the carriage 104 and the lighting device 106 via the linking device 110. After having been reflected by the documents-to-be-scanned 101 on the glass platform 102, the light emitted by the lighting device 106 is received by the carriage 104. The carriage 104 receives the light signal and sends it to a light sensing module 107 where the light signal is converted into an electric signal and then sent to the processing circuit of a circuit board 112 (not shown here) situated on the carriage 104. The processing circuit then sends the processed electric signal to a computer (not shown here) via a cable 114 followed by a universal series bus (USB) port 116.
When the scanner 120 has finished scanning, the carriage 104 will be driven back to the home position by the step motor, waiting for next scanning. If the scanner 120 has to wait long for the next scanning, the scanner 120 will automatically enter into suspension status, which not only saves power but also extends the scanner's lifespan. After entering into suspension status, the scanner 120 needs to be waked up using a scan-starting device 118 situated on a panel 117 of the housing 100 to proceed scanning. The scan-starting device 118 is linked to the USB port 116 via the cable 119.
Please refer to FIG. 2, a top view of the scanner 120 in FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, the scan-starting device 118 comprises a circuit board 202 and a key 204. The circuit board 202 situated on the inner-surface of the panel 117 is linked to the USB port 116 via the cable 119. Furthermore, the key 204 is situated on the outer edge of the panel 117.
If the user wants to wake up the scanner 120, which is in suspension status, he or she only needs to press the key 204 to touch the circuit board 202. When touched and pressed by the key 204, the circuit board 202 will generate an awakening signal, which is sent to the computer (not shown here) through the cable 119 and the USB port 116. Following this, the computer generates a starting signal, which is sent to the circuit board 112 to re-start the carriage 104 through the USB port 116 and the cable 114.
Conventionally, the scanner 120 has two cables and two circuit boards, occupying a large part of hardware space. Besides, during the manufacturing process of scanners, a conventional scanner takes longer time to install the cables, pushing the costs up.